Santa Cruz Norte, west face attempt; Pyramide de Garcilaso, east face ...
C
o r d il l e r a
B la n ca
S an ta Cruz N orte, west f a c e a ttem p t; P yram ide d e G arcilaso, ea st f a c e a ttem p t. Jay Burbee (Canada), M ichel van der Spek (Netherlands), and I (C anada) spent June in the Cordillera Blanca, w here we began with an attem pt on the unclim bed west face o f Santa Cruz Norte (5 8 2 9 m ). U ncharacteristic o f the region, the w eather was not good. In m arginal w eather we clim bed a runnel on the right side o f the face (the first one that com pletely avoids the p ro m in en t
rock
band
at
three-qu arters
h eigh t). Eight pitches were clim bed , p rin c i pally on ice and snow o f varying quality and as steep as 60 degrees, as well as m inor mixed sections. We topped out on the west ridge at 5700m late in the day and retreated to avoid an unplanned bivy. O u r clim b is n o t to be considered a new rou te, since it does not
con nect with an established route (the west ridge rem ains u n clim bed ) or reach the sum m it. Next we unsuccessfully attem pted a route
on
the
unclim bed
east
face
of
Pyram ide de G arcilaso in the Paria Gorge. The easiest approach to this face seems to be straight up the valley headwall, but is exposed to ice and stone fall. We to o k the quickest route, which clim bed a glacier, form ed entirely by icefall, traversed a b o m barded scree ledge, and clim bed one pitch o f Grade 3 ice up the toe o f the glacier. The east face o f Pyram ide de G arcilaso contains about a dozen steep ice streaks and runnels. We chose what looked to be one o f the easi er ones, a water-ice line descending from the col between the n orth and south sum m its. From a bivy cave at its base Jay led the first pitch in the dark o f early m orning, fighting with an eight-m eter vertical pillar. T hree m ore pitches up excellent 4 5 - to 70-degree water ice and snow led to a 20-m eter vertical ice curtain at 5500m . T h e lower part o f the ice sheet was thick and o f good quality, but higher the ice becam e th in , detached, and rotten. T he underlying and surrounding rock was not o f good quality, m aking the clim bing
som ew hat
unprotectable.
An
attem pt to aid the curtain on ice tools was abandoned ju st below the point o f no return. A safer but
m ore
com plicated
descent route below the east face o f Paron, on rock slabs and steep grass, was used to regain the valley. J e r e m y F r im e r ,
Varsity O u tdoor Club ( UBC )
o r d il l e r a
B la n ca
S an ta Cruz N orte, west f a c e a ttem p t; P yram ide d e G arcilaso, ea st f a c e a ttem p t. Jay Burbee (Canada), M ichel van der Spek (Netherlands), and I (C anada) spent June in the Cordillera Blanca, w here we began with an attem pt on the unclim bed west face o f Santa Cruz Norte (5 8 2 9 m ). U ncharacteristic o f the region, the w eather was not good. In m arginal w eather we clim bed a runnel on the right side o f the face (the first one that com pletely avoids the p ro m in en t
rock
band
at
three-qu arters
h eigh t). Eight pitches were clim bed , p rin c i pally on ice and snow o f varying quality and as steep as 60 degrees, as well as m inor mixed sections. We topped out on the west ridge at 5700m late in the day and retreated to avoid an unplanned bivy. O u r clim b is n o t to be considered a new rou te, since it does not
con nect with an established route (the west ridge rem ains u n clim bed ) or reach the sum m it. Next we unsuccessfully attem pted a route
on
the
unclim bed
east
face
of
Pyram ide de G arcilaso in the Paria Gorge. The easiest approach to this face seems to be straight up the valley headwall, but is exposed to ice and stone fall. We to o k the quickest route, which clim bed a glacier, form ed entirely by icefall, traversed a b o m barded scree ledge, and clim bed one pitch o f Grade 3 ice up the toe o f the glacier. The east face o f Pyram ide de G arcilaso contains about a dozen steep ice streaks and runnels. We chose what looked to be one o f the easi er ones, a water-ice line descending from the col between the n orth and south sum m its. From a bivy cave at its base Jay led the first pitch in the dark o f early m orning, fighting with an eight-m eter vertical pillar. T hree m ore pitches up excellent 4 5 - to 70-degree water ice and snow led to a 20-m eter vertical ice curtain at 5500m . T h e lower part o f the ice sheet was thick and o f good quality, but higher the ice becam e th in , detached, and rotten. T he underlying and surrounding rock was not o f good quality, m aking the clim bing
som ew hat
unprotectable.
An
attem pt to aid the curtain on ice tools was abandoned ju st below the point o f no return. A safer but
m ore
com plicated
descent route below the east face o f Paron, on rock slabs and steep grass, was used to regain the valley. J e r e m y F r im e r ,
Varsity O u tdoor Club ( UBC )
